EAGER: Turbulent Ventricular Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow Dynamics in Physiological and Pathological Conditions

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI

Investigators

Abstract

Computational models are being applied at increasing rate toward better understanding and assessment of deleterious human physiological effects. This project is a simulation study of the turbulent flow of cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebrospinal fluid is believed to circulate in the central nervous system, protecting the brain from trauma by providing buoyancy. Abnormalities in cerebrospinal fluid, its containment space, and its circulations have been related to diseases. The biomechanics of the turbulent mixing of the cerebrospinal fluid flow in the ventricular space is of paramount importance. The potential transformative impacts the cerebrospinal bio-turbulence physics has on improving the medical diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders of the brain are significant. The objectives of this project include gaining a thorough understanding of the roles the physics of turbulent cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics play in the pathologies of central nervous system disorders. A successful completion of the broader objectives produces a clinically validated computation framework for turbulent cerebrospinal fluid flow. An advanced understanding of the physics of the cerebrospinal fluid flow will improve the efficacy of cerebrospinal fluid-related medical diagnosis and treatments, and the well-being of individuals in society. Cerebrospinal fluid flow is believed to present throughout the lateral, the third and the fourth ventricles before entering the subarachnoid space, which surrounds the brain, the spinal cord, and other important systems, such as the optic nerve system. In this proposed project, the PIs focus on capturing and quantifying the dynamics of the observed turbulent cerebrospinal fluid flow in the third and the fourth ventricles. Cerebrospinal fluid will be represented by an incompressible Newtonian fluid with the same density and viscosity as those of water at the normal body core temperature. The cerebrospinal fluid flow will be resolved using a modern lattice Boltzmann method. An immersed boundary method will be applied to properly account for the non-lattice conforming shape of the complex cerebrospinal fluid flow passages. An intracranial vascular flow model will be developed for the cerebrovascular flow dynamics. The outcomes of the subject-specific simulations will be compared with those based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging data. Subject-specific applications of the computational model in a healthy and a diseased condition will be conducted.